Safe Harbor: Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge

Located on the Fort Morgan Peninsula of Alabama’s Gulf Coast, Bon Secour consists of 7,000 acres of protected beach and pine-oak woodlands, some of the state’s last remaining undisturbed coastal wildlife habitat. This relatively small area preserves dunes, marshes, wetlands, scrub and old forest habitats crucial to the survival of many animal species.

The tiles on my piece represent the animals, some endangered, found in Bon Secour either permanently or temporarily. Each spring and fall migratory birds can be sighted as they fly though toward their seasonal destinations. Summer brings nesting sea turtles and osprey, while October hosts the migration of Monarch butterflies. The endangered Beach Mouse makes a permanent home at Bon Secour, and feeds on the local sea oats, pictured in the center of my piece.

The botanicals around the outside of the panel were painted from photos from an October trail hike, when many wildflowers were in bloom, and the shells around the centerpiece were all collected previously from the beach near there. I felt it important to use plenty of white in this work, inspired by the sand, the light, and the reflections of the water.

Friends of the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge is a non-profit advocacy group that accepts donations to help improve the refuge and increase wildlife habitat. To contact them, email rngilges@aol.com. Bon Secour is maintained by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who can be contacted at bonsecour@fws.gov.